changing schools lessons from the community of thinking program

1
changing schools lessons from the community of
thinking program

• adam lefstein
• adaml_at_netvision.net.il
• august, 2004

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at a glance

• models
• lessons learned
• questions to consider

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model 1 professional development talk

• common examples
• clarifying common vision
• learning about learning

problem talk becomes detached from, and
sometimes replaces action
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• Edward Fiske, Smart Schools, Smart Kids
• The renewal of public education... requires
  nothing less than a frontal assault on every
  aspect of schooling -- the way we run districts,
  organize classrooms, use time, measure
  achievement, assign students, relate schools to
  their surroundings, and hold people accountable.

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model 2 radical, comprehensive change

• changing, all at once
• instruction
• teacher roles
• curriculum
• assessment
• organization of time and space
• textbooks
• management

problems overwhelming, unmanageable and fosters
insecurity
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model 3 the aspects approach

• common examples
• understanding performances
• cooperative learning teams
• inquiry projects
• questioning pedagogy

• problems
• getting stuck prematurely
• the whole is larger than the sum of its aspects

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model 4 experimental group

• common variations
• disciplinary team
• experimental classroom

• problems
• an island of change in a relatively static
  system
• what to do with the control group?

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models 1-4 external facilitators

• consult management
• conduct professional development activities
• facilitate design and implementation
• support classroom instruction
• provide feedback

• problems
• may lead to over-dependence
• expensive to scale-up

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model 5 developing pedagogical leadership

• two approaches
• disengaged facilitation model
• teachers assuming facilitators roles

• problems
• disengagement always unpopular and often
  ineffective
• teacher-facilitator role conflict

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model 6 an inter-school network

• for...
• mutual learning
• moral support
• constructive competition
• political leverage
• collaboration

• challenges
• time and distance
• creating a common agenda
• critical friendship

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Lessons learned

• Some mistakes...
• Starting from scratch mentality
• Becoming addicted to external experts
• Unrealistic expectations
• Letting talk over-reach practice

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Lessons learned

• About change...
• Changing school is a wicked problem
• Think far and big, act near and small
• Use structures to leverage practice
• Anchor everything to teaching and learning in the
  classroom

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Lessons learned

• About leadership and politics...
• Involve all stakeholders in the process
• Facilitate communication and collaboration
• Coercion is futile
• Resistance is generally a good sign
• Celebrate success

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Lessons learned

• Every school is a unique context there are no
  generalizable best practices that can be easily
  and successfully copied.

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so youre thinking about adopting the community
of thinking model...

• questions you might want to consider

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• thank you
• adam lefstein
• adaml_at_netvision.net.il